Revisiting In The Realm of The Senses & Cafe Flesh - Lilith Likes to Watch
It's been a long time, hasn't it? Maybe too long. I was beginning to think I'd never be here again.
Miss me?
Since I'm feeling a little rusty, I thought it might be fun to revisit films we had watched in the past. Do I feel the same? Have my thoughts changed? Was I unfair the first time around? Is everything just a smidge better now that I've seen some of the worst adult films know to human-kind?
This September, for Lilith Likes to Watch’s anniversary, that’s exactly what we’re going to explore.
In double feature!
So, come and enjoy some sloppy seconds with me.
First up, the film that started it all...
Title: In The Realm of the Senses
Year: 1976
Read the Original Review Here
In 2018, my co-hort Kage and I were watching a movie. The thing about the movie was that it left such an impression on me that I decided that I had opinions, and that those opinions deserved to be shared with the Internet.
In The Realm of the Senses is the first film I ever reviewed for the Lilith Likes to Watch website, and it’s kind of funny because my feelings and my review all culminated into … “It’s fine.”
One thing that I’ve learned about myself over the years of creating in an adult oriented space is that nothing inspires me quite as much as sub-par art. I restructured my entire career and life trajectory over it’s fine.
But I was inexperienced and naive back then so I wanted to see if I would feel it's all still fine after a rewatch.
Based off the true story of Sada Abe, a woman who murdered her lover in 1930s Japan, Keichi and Sada are lovers who become mutually obsessive. Their lust takes them past all reason and sanity, into the depths of self-destruction.
And...
Yeah, it’s fine.
In fact, I think I might have enjoyed it even less on this rewatch.
At first, I thought I’d actually enjoy it more this time, because now I was prepared. I knew what I was getting into. I told myself it wouldn’t be so bad this time around.
It was at roughly the 25 minute mark that I began to sour on this film. I found myself confused and a little bewildered. Keichi is married, and apparently so was Sada, but they eventually leave their little village to get secretly married. I think?
And then, I wondered to myself if something magical was going on because it seemed Sada was suddenly a virgin thanks to this new marriage ceremony, or, the other ladies attending the wedding used a magical bird dildo and sacrificed their virginity on Sada’s behalf.
Keichi then returns to his wife, and I am still unclear on what exactly happened.
My original review insisted that it wasn’t a very pretty movie, that all the set decor of Japan was there, but very mundane and aromantic. That still holds true. The first time around, I was expecting the ethereal beauty of a Tarsem movie, or Crouching Tiger or Memoirs of a Geisha. Yes, Realm precedes all those cinematic landmarks but you would think such a notorious film would have been a stepping stone. This time, I was aware of how bland the kimonos were, how claustrophobic the sets, and how flakey the geisha makeup was.
I’m sure there were shots that caught my attention, but the only one I retained was that of a door opening into a room with a silhouette of a tree on the wall.
The movie had some marginally inspired shots but I had seen them filmed better and more lovingly in later films. As Realm moved on, I found myself wishing I was watching The Handmaiden again.
Credit where it’s due, the acting is great. Unless of course something is lost in translation, and I’m missing some sort of nuance, the performers are completely believable and kept me focused on the scene and moment the story is occupying.
There was exactly one scene that got to me though, made me utter a little “aww”. Keichi’s hands are bound, and Sada has mounted him. She is strangling him nearly to the point of death, so she can feel him twitch inside her. Finally she releases the cord from his neck and he embraces her with his bound hands and asks “Was it good for you? Was it good for you?”
Aww!
Unfortunately, moments like that are very few. The total runtime of the film is under two hours and yet the movie positively crawls by. There are no real temporal markers to tell the viewer exactly how much time has passed in the narrative. Keichi and Sada have been fucking and lounging for weeks, or so we’re told, and Sada’s so incredibly lustful that she drains her lover, but we don’t see any effect of that. No shadowed eyes, no sunken cheeks, not even pale skin or unkept hair. In The Realm of the Senses, time is an illusion.
What about the erotica?
Well, some of it is a bit out there for the time, like the scene where Sada is told to put an egg inside herself, then lay it like a bird would. There’s also implied watersports that are never actually shown. They dip food in love juices then devour it. Although, Keichi never put his love juices on any of the food. Talk about a double standard.
The actual intercourse is almost quaint? It’s only shocking because it’s real, but the problem with sex is that it can be pretty awkward to watch. Yes, the performers were extremely brave to commit to real, actual, penetrative on screen sex. Yes, the film was transgressive for its time, especially since it was based on an actual murder.
But, sometimes sex is just… fine.
Best Moment: The "Was it good for you?" scene.
Worst Moment: It' all just so bland.
LILITH'S SCORE: 2/5 - It actually lost half a point. There are a few beautiful shots but the scenes feel like there's there for shock value and nothing more, and the plot is confusing.
But we're not done yet. Oh, no... How about a film I promised myself I would revisit based on the creator's other superior film. It's time for a second viewing of...
Title: Cafe Flesh
Year: 1982
Read the Original Review Here
This review isn’t so much a revisit to the movie Cafe Flesh itself, but rather a revisitation of myself, and my tastes.
Post-apocalyptic dystopia used to be one of my favourite movie settings, right up until March 2020. Then, no longer, for obvious reasons. To this day, I still have very little interest in engaging with post-apocalyptic, dystopia, pandemic or quarantine plot lines. If it helps people heal, and contextualize, great, I just have no patience for it.
However, through Kyle Kallgren of Brows Held High, I learned about a work of art called Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play, in which, a cast of characters distract themselves from the horrors of the end of the world by talking about The Simpsons.
It made me realize that, ultimately, my favourite part of dystopian tales are the misuse, misunderstanding, and repurposing of things that came from the before times.
The fire in the empty television set in Terminator, the leather-daddy aesthetics of the Mad Max franchise. The retelling of Star Wars in Reign of Fire. The bottle caps in Fallout. The cars in Fury Road. Who says you can’t put a fancy car on top of tank treads?
What do we do with all this ultimately useless, comforting pop culture when the wheels stop spinning?
It’s through that lens that I write this review because I find it to be an interesting question and I feel that its a valid angle to take.
Besides, I already shared my actual thoughts about the plot and how the characters that lacked chemistry.
So, let’s discuss what sexy post-apocalyptic vaudeville might look like!
If you are not familiar with the plot of Cafe Flesh, we’re treated with a text intro that explains the backstory. After the “nuclear kiss”, humanity has been cursed into two factions: Sex positives, those who can engage in sexual activities, and sex negatives, those for whom sex, romance, and love making is nauseating and painful. The sex positives are encouraged to perform at Cafe Flesh so that the negatives can voyeuristically get some relief by proxy.
The scenes that play out on stage speak to a need not only for sexual satisfaction, but also a longing for better days, all perverted by the haze of time.
A mother sits at home with her three infants and the milkman comes calling. Only, the milkman is a rat.
Gosh, remember the good ol’ days when the milkman came to your house?
Remember having to call the exterminator to eliminate pests in your pretty house?
Remember when babies cried for nothing more because their diapers were dirty and not because they were struggling to survive?
Remember being able to have live births before the bombs dropped?!?!
Remember sex?
Remember the scorching heat of your lover’s touch against your skin?
You can’t can you?
It’s been replaced by the scorch of radiation!
Remember when a solid plot for porno was “oh no, how do I pay for the milk?”
My point is that the Leave it to Beaver, white picket fence feel-good ideas are present, but misunderstood, co-mingled with the past and the dire present. The giant, radioactive rat can either eat you, or service you, in more ways than one. And after a hard day of navigating a sex-less wasteland, by God don’t you deserve to be serviced?
Each scene upon the Cafe Flesh stage is introduced by Max (Played by Andy Nichols) and seeing this character again was like a warm welcome. He was my favourite part of the film the first time around and he’s even better now. He’s sleeze mixed with Lenny Bruce mixed with Kinicky from Grease and he has a streak of yellow-belly shame hidden under his oily exterior. Max is the best.
The second scene is a strange office dalliance, where a powerful business woman and a pencil pusher get it on while a secretary answers the phone and asks if she should write a memo. The business woman constantly picks up the phone, holds it to her ear, then puts it down again. Oh, and did I mention that the pencil pusher is a literal giant human pencil?
Do you see now what I’m saying? They long for their boring, busy 9 to 5 office job. They crave the normalcy, the security and the stability just as much as the sex they can never have. The yearning for the past is just as fetishized and pathological as the sex and eroticism.
This is what they, what we, can and might be reduced to.
I’m not sure how to tell you this, and it might come as a bit of a shock, but Cafe Flesh is weird. It’s creative and inventive, and I liked it more on this rewatch but again, there’s still something missing about it. The two main characters, Nick and Lana (Played by Paul McGibboney and Pia Snow) long to be together, but their chemistry is non-existent. Maybe it got burned up in the nuclear blast?
The acting is poor, with exception of Max of course, and I feel sometimes that’s an unfair thing to say for a porno but also this is a post-Miss Jones, post-Nightdreams and post-Deep Throat flick. Say what you want about the performances in those films but they were at least varied and textured. This is monotone, through and through.
If ever an adult filmed deserved a remake, it’s Cafe Flesh. I could see Kaiden Kross doing excellent things with these building blocks.
This movie is teeming with the ambition to establish a world and tell a story, which is commendable. The gritty, grungy look suits it well, but it’s plagued by bad performances, terrible ADR, and a climax that is the most uncreative, unimaginative, unengaging, boring part of the whole film.
Fun idea, disappointing execution.
Best Moment: Max’s opening monologue. It sets the stage perfectly.
Worst Moment: The final act on stage. It’s built up so much and it pales in comparison to what we’ve been shown previous.
LILITH'S SCORE: 3.5/5 - Despite enjoying it more this time, the score remains the same. It is a cerebral film that did make me think outside the box.
Until next time, my voracious voyeurs. I’m Lilith, and I’m always watching.
Miss me?
Since I'm feeling a little rusty, I thought it might be fun to revisit films we had watched in the past. Do I feel the same? Have my thoughts changed? Was I unfair the first time around? Is everything just a smidge better now that I've seen some of the worst adult films know to human-kind?
This September, for Lilith Likes to Watch’s anniversary, that’s exactly what we’re going to explore.
In double feature!
So, come and enjoy some sloppy seconds with me.
First up, the film that started it all...
Title: In The Realm of the Senses
Year: 1976
Starring: Eiko Matsuda, Tatsuya Fuji
Director: Nagisa Ōshima
Synopsis: Based on a true story set in pre-war Japan, a man and one of his servants begin a torrid affair. Their desire becomes a sexual obsession so strong that to intensify their ardor, they forsake all, even life itself. (Via Letterboxd.com)
Lilith's Notes: The very first film ever reviewed.
Buy: Amazon
"I guess you have to approach death to feel the height of ecstasy"
Read the Original Review Here
In 2018, my co-hort Kage and I were watching a movie. The thing about the movie was that it left such an impression on me that I decided that I had opinions, and that those opinions deserved to be shared with the Internet.
In The Realm of the Senses is the first film I ever reviewed for the Lilith Likes to Watch website, and it’s kind of funny because my feelings and my review all culminated into … “It’s fine.”
One thing that I’ve learned about myself over the years of creating in an adult oriented space is that nothing inspires me quite as much as sub-par art. I restructured my entire career and life trajectory over it’s fine.
But I was inexperienced and naive back then so I wanted to see if I would feel it's all still fine after a rewatch.
Based off the true story of Sada Abe, a woman who murdered her lover in 1930s Japan, Keichi and Sada are lovers who become mutually obsessive. Their lust takes them past all reason and sanity, into the depths of self-destruction.
And...
Yeah, it’s fine.
In fact, I think I might have enjoyed it even less on this rewatch.
At first, I thought I’d actually enjoy it more this time, because now I was prepared. I knew what I was getting into. I told myself it wouldn’t be so bad this time around.
It was at roughly the 25 minute mark that I began to sour on this film. I found myself confused and a little bewildered. Keichi is married, and apparently so was Sada, but they eventually leave their little village to get secretly married. I think?
And then, I wondered to myself if something magical was going on because it seemed Sada was suddenly a virgin thanks to this new marriage ceremony, or, the other ladies attending the wedding used a magical bird dildo and sacrificed their virginity on Sada’s behalf.
Keichi then returns to his wife, and I am still unclear on what exactly happened.
My original review insisted that it wasn’t a very pretty movie, that all the set decor of Japan was there, but very mundane and aromantic. That still holds true. The first time around, I was expecting the ethereal beauty of a Tarsem movie, or Crouching Tiger or Memoirs of a Geisha. Yes, Realm precedes all those cinematic landmarks but you would think such a notorious film would have been a stepping stone. This time, I was aware of how bland the kimonos were, how claustrophobic the sets, and how flakey the geisha makeup was.
I’m sure there were shots that caught my attention, but the only one I retained was that of a door opening into a room with a silhouette of a tree on the wall.
The movie had some marginally inspired shots but I had seen them filmed better and more lovingly in later films. As Realm moved on, I found myself wishing I was watching The Handmaiden again.
Credit where it’s due, the acting is great. Unless of course something is lost in translation, and I’m missing some sort of nuance, the performers are completely believable and kept me focused on the scene and moment the story is occupying.
There was exactly one scene that got to me though, made me utter a little “aww”. Keichi’s hands are bound, and Sada has mounted him. She is strangling him nearly to the point of death, so she can feel him twitch inside her. Finally she releases the cord from his neck and he embraces her with his bound hands and asks “Was it good for you? Was it good for you?”
Aww!
Unfortunately, moments like that are very few. The total runtime of the film is under two hours and yet the movie positively crawls by. There are no real temporal markers to tell the viewer exactly how much time has passed in the narrative. Keichi and Sada have been fucking and lounging for weeks, or so we’re told, and Sada’s so incredibly lustful that she drains her lover, but we don’t see any effect of that. No shadowed eyes, no sunken cheeks, not even pale skin or unkept hair. In The Realm of the Senses, time is an illusion.
What about the erotica?
Well, some of it is a bit out there for the time, like the scene where Sada is told to put an egg inside herself, then lay it like a bird would. There’s also implied watersports that are never actually shown. They dip food in love juices then devour it. Although, Keichi never put his love juices on any of the food. Talk about a double standard.
The actual intercourse is almost quaint? It’s only shocking because it’s real, but the problem with sex is that it can be pretty awkward to watch. Yes, the performers were extremely brave to commit to real, actual, penetrative on screen sex. Yes, the film was transgressive for its time, especially since it was based on an actual murder.
But, sometimes sex is just… fine.
Best Moment: The "Was it good for you?" scene.
Worst Moment: It' all just so bland.
LILITH'S SCORE: 2/5 - It actually lost half a point. There are a few beautiful shots but the scenes feel like there's there for shock value and nothing more, and the plot is confusing.
But we're not done yet. Oh, no... How about a film I promised myself I would revisit based on the creator's other superior film. It's time for a second viewing of...
Title: Cafe Flesh
Year: 1982
Starring: Andy Nichols, Paul McGibboney, Michelle Bauer
Director: Stephen Sayadian, Mark S. Esposito
Synopsis: In the future, humans are divided into Sex Negatives and Sex Positives. The negatives get sick if they have sex so they go to Café Flesh to see positives who are forced to perform on stage for the negatives. Lana is a positive who everyone thinks is a negative and she must decide whether to come clean or not. (Via Letterboxd.com)
Lilith's Notes: When I reviewed the film Nightdreams, I reflected that I should give Cafe Flesh another watch. So here we are.
"Our humble spectacle just might be able to almost make you feel..."
Read the Original Review Here
This review isn’t so much a revisit to the movie Cafe Flesh itself, but rather a revisitation of myself, and my tastes.
Post-apocalyptic dystopia used to be one of my favourite movie settings, right up until March 2020. Then, no longer, for obvious reasons. To this day, I still have very little interest in engaging with post-apocalyptic, dystopia, pandemic or quarantine plot lines. If it helps people heal, and contextualize, great, I just have no patience for it.
However, through Kyle Kallgren of Brows Held High, I learned about a work of art called Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play, in which, a cast of characters distract themselves from the horrors of the end of the world by talking about The Simpsons.
It made me realize that, ultimately, my favourite part of dystopian tales are the misuse, misunderstanding, and repurposing of things that came from the before times.
The fire in the empty television set in Terminator, the leather-daddy aesthetics of the Mad Max franchise. The retelling of Star Wars in Reign of Fire. The bottle caps in Fallout. The cars in Fury Road. Who says you can’t put a fancy car on top of tank treads?
What do we do with all this ultimately useless, comforting pop culture when the wheels stop spinning?
It’s through that lens that I write this review because I find it to be an interesting question and I feel that its a valid angle to take.
Besides, I already shared my actual thoughts about the plot and how the characters that lacked chemistry.
So, let’s discuss what sexy post-apocalyptic vaudeville might look like!
If you are not familiar with the plot of Cafe Flesh, we’re treated with a text intro that explains the backstory. After the “nuclear kiss”, humanity has been cursed into two factions: Sex positives, those who can engage in sexual activities, and sex negatives, those for whom sex, romance, and love making is nauseating and painful. The sex positives are encouraged to perform at Cafe Flesh so that the negatives can voyeuristically get some relief by proxy.
The scenes that play out on stage speak to a need not only for sexual satisfaction, but also a longing for better days, all perverted by the haze of time.
A mother sits at home with her three infants and the milkman comes calling. Only, the milkman is a rat.
Gosh, remember the good ol’ days when the milkman came to your house?
Remember having to call the exterminator to eliminate pests in your pretty house?
Remember when babies cried for nothing more because their diapers were dirty and not because they were struggling to survive?
Remember being able to have live births before the bombs dropped?!?!
Remember sex?
Remember the scorching heat of your lover’s touch against your skin?
You can’t can you?
It’s been replaced by the scorch of radiation!
Remember when a solid plot for porno was “oh no, how do I pay for the milk?”
My point is that the Leave it to Beaver, white picket fence feel-good ideas are present, but misunderstood, co-mingled with the past and the dire present. The giant, radioactive rat can either eat you, or service you, in more ways than one. And after a hard day of navigating a sex-less wasteland, by God don’t you deserve to be serviced?
Each scene upon the Cafe Flesh stage is introduced by Max (Played by Andy Nichols) and seeing this character again was like a warm welcome. He was my favourite part of the film the first time around and he’s even better now. He’s sleeze mixed with Lenny Bruce mixed with Kinicky from Grease and he has a streak of yellow-belly shame hidden under his oily exterior. Max is the best.
The second scene is a strange office dalliance, where a powerful business woman and a pencil pusher get it on while a secretary answers the phone and asks if she should write a memo. The business woman constantly picks up the phone, holds it to her ear, then puts it down again. Oh, and did I mention that the pencil pusher is a literal giant human pencil?
Do you see now what I’m saying? They long for their boring, busy 9 to 5 office job. They crave the normalcy, the security and the stability just as much as the sex they can never have. The yearning for the past is just as fetishized and pathological as the sex and eroticism.
This is what they, what we, can and might be reduced to.
I’m not sure how to tell you this, and it might come as a bit of a shock, but Cafe Flesh is weird. It’s creative and inventive, and I liked it more on this rewatch but again, there’s still something missing about it. The two main characters, Nick and Lana (Played by Paul McGibboney and Pia Snow) long to be together, but their chemistry is non-existent. Maybe it got burned up in the nuclear blast?
The acting is poor, with exception of Max of course, and I feel sometimes that’s an unfair thing to say for a porno but also this is a post-Miss Jones, post-Nightdreams and post-Deep Throat flick. Say what you want about the performances in those films but they were at least varied and textured. This is monotone, through and through.
If ever an adult filmed deserved a remake, it’s Cafe Flesh. I could see Kaiden Kross doing excellent things with these building blocks.
This movie is teeming with the ambition to establish a world and tell a story, which is commendable. The gritty, grungy look suits it well, but it’s plagued by bad performances, terrible ADR, and a climax that is the most uncreative, unimaginative, unengaging, boring part of the whole film.
Fun idea, disappointing execution.
Best Moment: Max’s opening monologue. It sets the stage perfectly.
Worst Moment: The final act on stage. It’s built up so much and it pales in comparison to what we’ve been shown previous.
LILITH'S SCORE: 3.5/5 - Despite enjoying it more this time, the score remains the same. It is a cerebral film that did make me think outside the box.
Until next time, my voracious voyeurs. I’m Lilith, and I’m always watching.
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